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Description

Goshen on LP

Ot To Not To is an experimental R'n'B project by Virgina native Ian Mugerwa that combines low fidelity electronic recording techniques with unconventional song structures to produce music that serves as homage to dusty old blues recordings. At 19, Ian left his hometown of Fairfax for Richmond, where he slept on friends's floors for several months while recording Goshen. During the day he would "hunt dussy" and during the night he would haul borrowed equipment over to the Virginia Commonwealth University music facilities and record until the morning. He was moderately successful on both fronts. The resultant recordings form a coming of age album, a snapshot of Ian from the ages of 19 to 20. Ian's goal was to explore new aesthetics in black music through use of nontraditional methods, creating a less polished, less sterile R'n'B in the process. Such methods included layering 40+ cello tracks to create the illusion of an orchestra, or collaging four, separate, four-minute tracks of improvised percussion into one. Most drums were recorded last. Despite the focus on experimentation, it was important to Ian that he be crafting pop music. It is his belief that an impactful artist has, at least to some degree, a moral responsibility to deliver their art to the maximum amount of people (to efficiently help art as a whole progress). In other words, if restraint can be exercised, it ought to be. "Regretta I" features Noah Smith. RIYL: James Blake, Phil Elvrum, Mark Hollis, and D'Angelo.

Ot To Not To is an experimental R'n'B project by Virgina native Ian Mugerwa that combines low fidelity electronic recording techniques with unconventional song structures to produce music that serves as homage to dusty old blues recordings. At 19, Ian left his hometown of Fairfax for Richmond, where he slept on friends's floors for several months while recording Goshen. During the day he would "hunt dussy" and during the night he would haul borrowed equipment over to the Virginia Commonwealth University music facilities and record until the morning. He was moderately successful on both fronts. The resultant recordings form a coming of age album, a snapshot of Ian from the ages of 19 to 20. Ian's goal was to explore new aesthetics in black music through use of nontraditional methods, creating a less polished, less sterile R'n'B in the process. Such methods included layering 40+ cello tracks to create the illusion of an orchestra, or collaging four, separate, four-minute tracks of improvised percussion into one. Most drums were recorded last. Despite the focus on experimentation, it was important to Ian that he be crafting pop music. It is his belief that an impactful artist has, at least to some degree, a moral responsibility to deliver their art to the maximum amount of people (to efficiently help art as a whole progress). In other words, if restraint can be exercised, it ought to be. "Regretta I" features Noah Smith. RIYL: James Blake, Phil Elvrum, Mark Hollis, and D'Angelo.